Welcome to Sonoma County!
A short hour north of cosmopolitan San Francisco, where life slows down but sophistication remains in the midst of farms, quaint towns, vineyards and redwoods. Join us here to search for your wine country home, to learn about our real estate market and for a personal view of life in Sonoma County Wine Country.

I have been writing a lot lately about Month's Supply of Inventory as it relates the national and California real estate markets to the Sonoma County real estate market. Inventory here is much lower then either nationally or statewide, putting Sonoma County in a real seller's market, primarily at the lower price points but we are also seeing a lot more movement of mid-priced and upper end properties over a million dollars. That price point was dead much of this year.
I thought I would do a series of quick snapshots of inventory supply in each of...Continue Reading!

Today is an absolutely glorious fall day in West Sonoma County! Crystal clear skies, about 65 degrees. As good a time as any for me to preview a country property for some clients. The vineyards are golden and red. The grass is lush and emerald green after the first rains last month. This is one of my favorite scenes along The Gravenstein Highway. A magnificent row of liquid ambers line the driveway overlooking an expanse of Russian River pinot noir. Sent from my iPhone Posted via email from pambuda's posterous ...Continue Reading!

posted by Pam Buda //Comments Off on A Favorite Sebastopol Autumn Scene

I figure when my clients or blog visitors are asking me questions that there may be a few of you out there with the same sort of questions. Recently I was asked by a homeowner if this might be a time to consider selling their current home in a very nice Santa Rosa neighborhood. They were hesitant because in the fall of 2008 they put their home on the market briefly hoping to buy a country home with some more land for their hobbies and a little closer for their commutes.
We all remember last fall at this time....Continue Reading!

Today I had the pleasure of walking a 7+ acre pinot noir vineyard property with my client, planning our strategy for a maximum impact market debut of her Russian River appellation home. Here's a sneak preview picture of the Mt. St. Helena view to the Northeast. What a tough day at "the office." Posted via email from pambuda's posterous Continue Reading!

Many of my clients this year have gotten $8,000 checks from the federal government shortly after purchasing their first homes. They have been able to pay closing costs (by borrowing money from a relative and repaying when the credit was paid to them) or do necessary repairs. In some cases it was enough of a difference to make it easier for them to accomplish the goal of buying their first homes. According to statistics only about 30% of people who took advantage of the credit were not going to buy otherwise but my clients specifically cited...Continue Reading!

I recently wrote about the low "Month's Supply of Inventory" of homes for sale in Sonoma County and touched on our seller's market, driven by homes for sale under $500,000. What does it mean to be a seller's market these days? The best and most hilarious explanation I have seen lately was done by Kris Berg, of San Diego Castles Realty, in her movie directing debut. Scarily true.Continue Reading!

posted by Pam Buda //Comments Off on Shades of a Seller’s Market? Or, “How to Buy a Bank-Owned Home” by Kris Berg

Two years ago at this time real estate inventory started to pile up and nearly 3800 homes were for sale in Sonoma County. The years of seemingly unending price increases were starting to slow and reverse course. In October 2007 there were 3787 homes for sale and 606 sold that month. At that rate of sales, there were 12.5 months supply of inventory.
Fast forward two years and there are only 2368 homes for sale in Sonoma County and 431 of them sold in October. So while the number of sales was down slightly versus two years...Continue Reading!

Month's Supply of Inventory (MSI) is down sharply from last year.
Sales of existing single family homes fell slightly last quarter as first time buyers and investors busily snatched up entry level homes price under $350,000. At the present moment, November 2, 2009, there are only 1190 homes for sale Unit sales are down also, from priced under $500,000 county wide, versus 2,458 at the end of October 2008, meaning there are only 2.8 months of inventory supply if sales continue at their current rate. Anything under a five to seven months supply is considered to be a sellers...Continue Reading!

posted by Pam Buda //Comments Off on Only half the Sonoma County homes for sale this year compared to last

I have some great new tools available which will enable me to create and share Real Estate Market Statistics and Analysis to my (and your) heat's content. Here is my first post which contains a whole set of data looking at median price, units sold, days on market and month's supply of inventory for all residential sales (single-family homes, condos and farms and ranches) in Sonoma County. For those of you who like these things they will soon have their own page where you can revel in the data as much as you like. I will also be drilling down...Continue Reading!

County wide sales trend in Sonoma County don't tell the whole story about our real estate market, since the lower priced properties ($400,000 and under) are the tail wagging our real estate market dog. (!!) But we have to start somewhere so here you go. (Click on the image for a larger, clearer view.)
Year over year the median Sonoma County home price dropped 5% to $359,000. However, the apparent bottom for this market (whether a V, U or W is yet to be determined) was in February when the median price was $315,000. Some of my smart buyer clients...Continue Reading!